Well flow control apparatus and system



April 30, 1957 H. u. GARRETT ETAL 1 2,790,501

man. now CONTROL APPARATUS m SYSTEM 4 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Aug. 14, 1953s. TRm M ET 1w REW- RPN IT A 9 G w um ATTORNEYS April 0, 1957 H. u.GARRETT ETAL 2,790,501

WELL FLOW CONTROL APPARATUSYAND SYSTEM Filed Aug. 14, 1953 4Sheets-Sheet 2 HENRY U. GARRETT CLIFF 0RD M. PETERS ATTORNEYS April 30,1957 H. u. GARRETT EIAL 2,790,501

- WELL FLOW. CONTROL APPARATUS AND SYSTEM Filed Aug. 14, 1953 4Sheets-Sheet 3 A v IIIIIIII/IWI" INVENT R.

HENRY u. GARRETT CLIFFORDM. PETERS .i I f 5/ /00 BY flMw1.5MW

' W 55 R 1'70. 3. hi 1 1 10. 6. r

ATTORNEYS V April 30, 1957 Filed Aug. 14. 1953 H. U. GARRETT ETAL WELLFLOW CONTROL APPARATUS AND SYSTEM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 'ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent F WELL FLOW CONTROL APPARATUS AND SYSTEM Henry U. Garrettand Clifford M. Peters, Houston, Tex., assignors, by mesne assignments,to U. S. Industries, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application August14, 1953, Serial No. 374,296

32 Claims. (Cl. 166-224) This invention relates to an apparatus andsystem for controlling flow into or out of a well conduit wherein avalve for controlling such flow can be landed at any one of a number ofpredetermined levels in the well and removed therefrom by wire lineoperation without pulling the conduit from the well. In one of itsaspects, this invention relates to a mandrel assembly for a well conduitand adapted to have a flow control valve landed therein to control flowbetween the interior and exterior of the assembly and wherein the valvecan be removed without equalizing pressures on the inside and outside ofthe assembly.

In the past, the completion and producing of a well, has frequentlyinvolved pulling and rerunning the flow tubing several times,particularly where several separate formations were to be tested orproduced. In order to eliminate the pulling and rerunning of tubing,there has recently been developed a permanent type" completion. In thistype of completion, the tubing is permitted to remain permanently in thewell and various perforating, cementing, and other completion orproduction operations are carried out by wire line tools lowered intothe well by a wire line. In this manner, removal of the tubing isavoided and essentially all operations which were formerly performed byremoval and rerunning of tubing can now be performed by wire lineoperation. This type of operation avoids (l) killing the well, (2)setting up a pulling rig, (3) rig time in pulling and remnning tubing aswell as the hazards thereof, (4) replacement of packers, (5)installation of blowout preventers.

While it is always desirable to avoid pulling tubing to install orchange gas lift or other flow control valves, the employment of thepermanent type completion discussed above makes it even more desirable.Thus, the installation of such flow control valves in a customarymanner, as by screwing into a mandrel, would greatly detract from theadvantages of the permanent type completion because it would still benecessary to pull the tubing to install or change such valves.

While attempts have been made in the past to provide a solution to theproblem of wire line installation of gas lift valves, these have notbeen productive of entirely satisfactory results for several reasons.For example, it has been necessary heretofore to equalize pressuresbetween the casing and tubing before such valves could be landed orremoved from the tubing; otherwise, the pressure in the casing wouldbleed in beneath the valve and blow it out of the tubing. Somewhatrelated to this, it has been necessary to retain a valve in each mandrelin the well or else casing fluid would flow into the tubing to upset thegas lift operations. Also, it has not been possible to install aplurality of mandrels in a tubing and then to land a given valve in anyone of such mandrels at the operators selection and to satisfactorilylatch the valve in place in the desired mandrel, thereby permitting theuse of a universal type mandrel and latching mechanism for the valve.Other shortcomings of the prior at- 2,790,501 Patented Apr. 30, 1957tempts to solve this problem are existent but will not be discussedfurther.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a flow controlapparatus and system permitting of wire line operation and in which aflow control valve can be landed in or removed from a receiver ormandrel without equalizing pressure between the inside and outside of awell conduit on which the valve is to be landed.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus and systemfor controlling flow of fluid into or out of a well conduit including aflow control valve which can be landed in a mandrel or housing by a wireline operation, the mandrel or housing including a valve member adaptedto open and close a flow passage providing communication between theinterior and exterior of the mandrel or housing whereby upon removal ofthe flow control valve, such communication can be closed off.

Another object is to provide such an apparatus and system wherein apassageway or port permitting flow be tween the interior and exterior ofa well conduit is opened and closed upon respectively landingandremoving a valve for controlling flow through such passageway so thatflow through the passageway is always under control.

Another object of this invention is to provide such an apparatus andsystem in which a flow control valve or wire line tool employed to landsuch valve in a housing or mandrel moves a valve member to open apassageway between the interior and exterior of the mandrel so that theflow valve can control flow through the passageway, and each time theflow valve is withdrawn from the housing or mandrel, such valve memberis automatically moved to closed position thereby assuring that the flowvalve cannot be removed from the mandrel without closing the passageway.

Another object is to provide an apparatus and system wherein a mandrelor landing device and a flow control valve are so constructed andarranged that any number of such mandrels can be installed in a well andone of such valves landed in any mandrel at the operators selection.

Another object is to provide such an apparatus and system wherein notonly can the flow control valve be lowered through such mandrels but,with the flow control valve removed, other conventional wire line toolscan also be lowered through the mandrel so that diverse wire lineoperations can be performed without upsetting the well and without suchtools interfering with the mandrel or valve.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus and systemfor the gas lift production of wells through which a plurality of gaslift valves can be landed in the well to unload the same of mud or thelike and then the unloading valves removed leaving only the workingvalve in the well to produce the same.

Another object of this invention is to provide a flow control valvemechanism which can be landed and positively latched in position in amandrel assembly and yet which can be readily removed therefrom by awire line tool, the assembly including a valve member movable to openand close a passageway between the interior and exterior of the welltubing flow through which the flow valve is to control, there also beingprovided means for moving the valve member to open position uponlatching the flow valve in position and for moving the valve member toclosed position upon unlatching the flow valve whereby flow through thepassageway is of such mandrels can be incorporatedin the tubing stringat the time the same is made up and run into the well and thereafter agiven gas lift valve or other flow control valve can be landed'in anyone of such mandrels.

Another object of this invention is toprovide'asystem forcontrollingflow offluid into or outof arwell conduit wherein a pluralityof mandrels. are incorporated in a tubing string and wherein a givenflow control valve can be landed in any oneof such mandrels to controlflow of fluid into or out of thetubing string.

Another-object is to provide awire line tooladapted to land a flowcontrol valvein a mandrel assembly and to cause the valve tobepositively latched kin-position inthe mandrel assembly and furtherfacilitating lowering of such valve through one of :suchmandrelassemblies should it be-desired to land the 'valvein other than'thetopmostassembly.

'Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will beapparent-to those skilled-in the-art upon consideration-of the writtenspecification, theappended claims, and the attached drawings wherein:

Fig. lis a vertical'view, partially in section,-schem-aticallyillustrating a well having apparatus for permanent typecompletioninstalled therein and also illustrating thepinstallation of -=apparatusembodying this invention;

"Fig. Z iIIust ratesan embodiment-of part-of the iapparatus of thisinvention and shows a mandrel assembly having-a lateral fiow-portorpassageway-closed by a valve memberand also a flow control valveinserted in the mandrel assembly hut-not as yet completelyrlatched orlanded in 'operating position;

'Fig. 3' illustrates an embodiment of a landingto'ol adapted to be usedas a part of the apparatus of" this invention to land a flow controlvalve in-a mandrel assembly-and shows the upper portion oftheflowcontrol valve illustrated in Fig. 2 with such portion latched tothe landing tool and ready for completion of the landing into themandrel assembly;

Fig. 4 is a-view-similar-to Fig. '2 except that it shows the-fiowcontrol valve-completely landed in operating position in the mandrelassembly,- the wire line tool having not as yet been completely removed;

Fig.5 is a view of a section of the mandrel assembly and of the flowcontrol valve as shown in Fig. 4 but withthe apparatus rotated 90degrees'from its'Fig. 4 position-to betterillustrate-further details ofconstruction;

"Fig. 6'-is aQview similar to that of 3"butwith the landing: toolunlatched from the how control valve and in a position to'be withdrawnfrom the well;

'Fig.- 7- is a view takenon-the line 7-7 of Fig.4; and

Figs. -8 and-9'are' half-section views taken onthe lines 8-8 and 9-9-ofFig. 4.

'Like characters of reference are used throughontjtbe severalviewstodesignate like parts.

Before turning to a specific description .of the illustrated embodimentof-t he apparatus of this invention, a more detailed discussion will behad with regard to the-permanent'type completionof a Well referred toabove. in'Fig. l, the well has a casing 10 set therein in conventionalmanner. It will be noted. that the well is illustrated-ashaving beendrilled through three potential producing formations, A, B, and C. Afterthe casing has -been set, a tubing string '11 is run into the well andpackers 12 are set above formation A. "The well head is equipped withconventional structure 13 including a 'conduit 1-4 connecting with thetubing-casing annulus and a conventional wire line stufling box 15. Thestufiing box is connected to the upper end of tubing 11 through ,a unionand block valve (not shown) and permits a wire line 16 'tobe passeddownwardly through the tubingin order to perform wire line operations.and services while the tubing is under an elevated pressure; The tubingis equipped with one or-more landing nipples 17 adapted .toreceive wireline tools employedin the completionnf the well as will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. It will be noted that tubing 11 terminatesbelow packer 12 and above the upper producing formation A. With thisarrangement, it is possible to lower a casing perforator through thetubing by a wire line to perforate the casing adjacent any one of theproducing formations A through C. For example, let it be assumed thatformation A is to be produced and perforations 10a have been made in thecasing. The perforator is withdrawn from the well and production fromthis formation tested. Suitable chokes, pressure regulators, or the likecan be run into the hole by wire line and landed in nipple 17 to controlflow of production from the formation. However, should it prove that theproduction from formation A is unsatisfactory, any tools landed in thewell can be removed and then a suitable cementing sleeve landed innipple-17. Cement can then be injected through the tubing and-squeezedthrough perforations ltia into formation A to seal off the perforations.Then, upon washing out of the-excess cement, as throughazcirculating'valve situated above-packer 12 and below nipple 17,formation 'B-can' be perforated and tested in the manner described forformation A. If it too proves to be unproductive, it canbe squeezecemented and formation C tested. In this manner, various formations canbetestedandproduced without pulling the tubing and the well is said -to'be permanently completed.

However, assume that formation A has been determined as'productive-andis to be produced. While it may orig inally have sufficient formationpressure to produce without any artificial producing means, it is likelythat even- T tually the formation pressure will ultimately drop to such"a point thatsome means must be provided to lift the formation fluid tothe surface of the well.

Inaccordance with this invention, aplurality ofmandrel assemblies-18embodying the invention'are made i up-as apart-of the tubing string atthe time the tubing is run into the well. The number and placement ofthese mandrel assemblies in the tubing string is dependent upontheanticipated spacing requirements for gas lift production of theparticular well and preferably a sufiicient number are made up in thetubing string to allow considerable flexibility and latitude in thespacing of gaslift valves to be landed in the mandrel assemblies.

The mandrel assemblies are provided with a passage- I way affordingfluid communication between the interior constructed, as will be mademore apparent hereinafter,

that when it is desired to gas lift the well, a valve 19 can belowered'through any number of mandrel assemhlies and'landed by wireline16 in a selected mandrel assembly irrespective of where it issituated in the well. Also, a plurality of valves can he landed in acorresponding-number ofmandrel assemblies-so thatt'hetubingcasingannulus can be U-tubed or dumped to remove fluid-therefrom.Then, upon passing lifting gas through pipe14 into thetubingcasing-annulus, such gas can be injected intothe tubing undercontrol of-one or more ofthegas lift-valves landed in mandrel assemblies18. Sincensuallyonly .one valve is employed as a working valve to-injectgasinto the tubin'g, all .other or. dumping yalvescan be removed fromthe tubing thereby eliminat: ingdhgnecessity for leaving a pluralityofvalves in the well where they are not only subject to failure but in-.crease .the investment in the well. Also, any valve so lauded can beremoved as desired and either landed in 3612 can be provided to sealthis telescope joint.

another mandrel at a different depth or replaced by avalve havingdifierent control characteristics. Even further, all valves can beremoved and the well surveyed, reworked or treated after which the valveor valves can be again landed in the well. Thus, the permanent typecompletion is not disturbed and the gas lift valves are installed onlyin a desired number and at the time required.

While this invention has been particularly described in conjunction withpermanent type completion, it will be apparent that it has great utilityin any well because it eliminates the necessity for pulling tubing nomatter how the well is completed and the advantages described above willlikewise be achieved.

Referring now to the other figures, the illustrated embodiment of thisinvention generally comprises a housing or mandrel assembly 25 providedwith a flow passageway 26 permitting fluid communication between theinterior and exterior of the mandrel assembly. The assembly includes avalve member or sleeve 27 which is movable to open and close passageway26. A flow control valve means, designated generally by the numeral 28,is adapted to be passed through or to be landed in the mandrel assembly,as desired, by wire line 16 and upon being so landed, valve member 27 ismoved to open position to establish communication between passageway 26and a port in the control valve 28 so that fluid flowing into or out ofpassageway 26 can be controlled by the control valve thereby controllingthe injection of fluid into the tubing or into the casing as the casemay be. Upon removal of control valve 28 from the mandrel assembly,valve member 27 is moved to closed position thereby preventing furtherflow of fluid through the passageway. In this manner, flow of fluid intoor out of the tubing is always controlled by a control valve adapted tohe landed by a wire line operation and such flow is blocked whenever thecontrol valve is removed.

Referring first to the mandrel assembly 25, there is provided a housingor mandrel body 30 threaded at its ends for connection into the tubingstring, such as by reducing connectors aflording a connection with thetubing.

Means are provided on mandrel body 30 for insertably receiving orpassing therethrough, as desired, a flow control valve means 28 or otherdesired tool. Such means can comprise a tubular conduit designatedgenerally by the numeral 31, made up of tubes 32 and 33 which arepreferably arranged concentrically within mandrel body 30 and spacedinwardly from the body to provide a bypass passage 30a affording fluidcommunication between ends of the mandrel assembly so that well fluidscan flow upwardly through the tubing even when the flow control valvemeans is landed in the mandrel assembly. To support the outer ends oftubes 32 and 33, they can be provided with slots 34 to receive spacerand supporting blocks 35, the latter having their outer endsin abutmentwith an internal shoulder formed on the ends of adjacent tubingconnectors. 32 and 33 are arranged to telescope within or to beotherwise connected to a crossover coupling 36 which has portions 36afor receiving these ends. Suitable seals The crossover coupling cancomprise a tubular portion 360 having spaced annular inturned flanges36d defining an annular fluid passageway 36c. Passageway 36a isconnected by means of washer 36 to mandrel body 30 thereby completingpassageway 26 between the exterior of the mandrel body and the interiorof the valve receiving means and yet leaving open by-pass 30a.

As mentioned above, valve member 27 is arranged to be moved between openand closed positions with respect to passageway 26 so that the lattercan be closed upon removal of flow valve '28 to prevent flow of fluidthrough The inner ends of tubespassageway 26 except when valve 28 ispresent tocontrol. such flow. Valve member 27 is preferably in the formof a sleeve, as illustrated, having an imperforate portion 27a adapted.to be moved across passageway 26 and surmounted by a support and sealingportion 27b whose function will be made moreapparent below. Between suchportions, a plurality of openings 270 are disposed so as to be broughtinto register with passageway 26 with the valve member in open position.To limit movement of the valve member at the extremes of its open andclosed positions, stop parts are provlded between the valve member andthe mandrel. The stop parts can comprise shoulders 38 and 39 arrangedrespectively on tubes 32 and 33 and adapted to be alternately abutted byopposite ends 27d and 272 of the valve member. With end 27d in abutmentwith shoulder 38, imperforate portion 27a will be positioned acrosspassageway 26 to close the latter while with end 27e in abutment withshoulder 39, passageway 26 will be opened through ports 270 into theinterior of the mandrel assembly. Suitable sealing means, such asO-rings 40 and 41, can be provided around passageway 26 to confine flowfrom this passageway to be through ports 27c. Also, a releasabledetentin the form of a snap ring 42 is carried by the sleeve and isengageable with annular grooves 43 and 44 in tube 33 in order toreleasably retain the valve member in its open and closed positions.Thisarrangement is particularly desirable when a tool is to be run intothe mandrel assembly which does not provide parts for holding the sleevein open or closed position and also when it might be desired to move thesleeve to open and closed position by a tool, other than a flow controlvalve, which is not to be landed and left in the mandrel assembly whilethe passageway is open.

In constructing the mandrel assembly, it is preferable that the minimuminside diameter of sleeve 27, as well as that of the receiving means,beapproximately at least as great as the inside diameter of the tubing.This permits,

ordinary wire line tools which will pass through the tubing to also passthrough the mandrel assembly without interfering therewith. Also, thecross-sectional area of bypass passageway 30a is preferably made atleast as large as that of the tubing so that with a flow control valvelanded in the mandrel assembly, well fluids can still flow up the welland through passageway 30a with relatively little restriction. With suchsizing, it will be obvious that the diameter of mandrel body 30 will belarger than that of the tubing but it can be connected thereto bysuitable swage or reducing fittings.

It should also be noted that the mandrel assembly is constructed andarranged so that it provides a central bore 'through which a wire linetool or a flow control valve can pass in order to be lowered to aposition entirely below the mandrel assembly. Thus, the valve receivingmeans and valve member 27 are, in the preferred embodiment, generallyannular in shape with their internal or central bores substantiallycoaxially aligned with that of the tubing so that a wire line tool or aflow control valve can be lowered straight down through the tubing into'valves situated externally of the tubing. As an example,

the valve mechanism can be of the type shown in United States LettersPatent Nos. 2,519,242, 2,620,740 and 2,620,741. The valve mechanismillustrated in the drawing is of the balanced pressure type and includesa pressure dome 48 (Fig. 3) adapted to be charged with a I resilientfluid and with a back-up liquid, if desired, as

disclosed in the prior patents mentioned above. A .bel-v lows 49 has oneend. connected to the valve housing and alnrovable' an connected asvalii'stem s2; ose sides: the bellows is exposed to the pressure withindome 48" add theo'ther to the pressure of the casing via passage,-

waysr provided by clearance between the valve housing and valve stem52." The valve stem" isbdnneetedwith a valve member 53 sothat the domeor. charge: pressure urges the valve member toward a-seatj 5,4 whilecasing pressure acts tourge the. valve member towardunseated position.-With this arrangement,- opening-and closingof valve member 53 controlsflow of :fliiid through passageway 26, ports 27c,ports 46 and 47 iii thevalve housing; In order to balance out the cited of: tubing pressure onthe valve member,- piston 55: is connected to seat 54' by,

piston rod 56 the piston havinga sliding seal within cyl irider 57Tformed'internally of valve member 53.' The side of piston 55 remotefrom the valve seat is exposed 53within seat 54 the tendency of tubingpressure to move:

the valve member is cancelled out and opening and closing of the valveis dependent solely upon the casing pressure acting in opposition to thecharge pressure in dome 48;

With this arrangement, it will be apparent that when the casingpressurebecomes sufliciently great relative to the charge pressure, valve member53 will be unseated so that fluid from the casing can flow through ports46, seat 54 andlport 47 to be discharged through a check valve,

designated generally by the numeral 59 into the tubing. 7

The discharge fluid can then pass, along with any well fluid-in atubing, upwardly through the by-pass passageway 30dto the upper end ofthe mandrel assembly and thence upwardly through the tubing.

Ports 46 are solocated in the flow control valve housingthat when thelatter is landed properly in the mandrelassernbly, the ports are influid communication with openings 270 in valve member 27. Sealing means,such as O-rings 60 are disposed to either side of ports 46 to effect aseal with sealing portion 27b and imperforate portion 27d ofvalve member27 so as to confine fiow through passageway 26 to be through ports 46and the flow control valve.-

Means are provided for moving valve member 27 to openposition uponlanding of fiowcontrol valve means 23 in the mandrel assembly and toymove the valve member to closed position upon removal of the valve meansfrom" the assembly. Such means can includedogs 65 (Figs 2 and carried byHow controlvalve housing-45- and having one end biased outwardly of thehousing by a spring 67 to presenhwhenextended, engaging portions 68 forabutment with end 27d of valve member 27. Upon such abutment andmovement of housing-45 down wardly, itwillbe apparent'that valve member27 will be moved to open position. Outward movement of the engaging endof the dogs is limitedby retaining parts 69 lying within a rim 7% on thevalve housing. The other ends-69a of the dogs 65 are pivotally connectedto the valvehousing by being loosely retained within a sleeve or sk-i'rt72', thelength of the dogs being only slightly less than that of recess73 in which they reside. With this arrangement, it will beapparent'thatdogs 65 are free to move outwardly of the valve housing forabutting engagement with valve member27 so that upon subsequentdownward'movement of the fiow control valve housing, the sleeve is movedto open position.

As part of the means for moving valve member 27 to closed position whenit is desired to remove flow control vzilve-ZS-from the well, there isprovided a dog75 having an engaging portion-76 for abutment with end272015 the valve member so that upward movement of the valvehousingmoves the valve member to closed position. D'og'"75"is' inextended position during lowering or the fldiv co fit'rol valve" througuthe tubirig or dii'r'ing' rai s'ifig", it to landing: position inthejmandr-l' assembly; As, a

result; the dog rides on the nibingdnri'ng seen more: merit. Withdownward ,niovement ofrtlre' control valve,

'the dog willho 't cat'chon any shoulder'or projeczionin the tubing,such as are tubifi'gjoiht, but could engage 1 sum shoulder when thecontrolvalve' is being raised to be landed in the mandrel assembly; Toprevent th'isia seissdrs-type-mhuhtihg for the dogyis rovided as bypivoting it intermediate its ends by pivot 77 to lever 78,

carrier'pa'it 82' which in turhji connected-to the valve housingby,a,shear pin 83'." Slide 34 is carried by the the interior wanOf-tlltubingstting or that of the man;

be biased toward extended position but that inward and outwardmovement-oi" shoe 84 willre's'ultin corresponding I movement of engagingportion76: By making the di's-" ta'n'ce between sl'ioe"84 and engagingportion 76' greater than the width of any re'ce'ss'e'sf inrmhih jointsor the like within 'thftubirig, the"valvefhousing jcctn'be movedupwardly in the tubing Without'dog :a'buttin'g any shoulders" in thetubing." Thus;-as' the valve housing is raised in the tuhin'gforie ofshoe 84 and engaging portion 76will always be sliding on the inner wallof the tubing even whenfla recesstherein is encountered. Asa result,neither shoe 84" nor portio'n76 can move outwardly into any such'recessbecause" bothmust move outwardly together. l

However, topermifbo'th engagingportion 76and shoe 84 to'so moveoutwardly so that the former can engage end 27a of valve member 27, anannular recess 85 is provided in. tube 33. Such recess is, of course, ofsulfici'ent length as to allow both portion 76 and shoe 84 'to expandinto the recess so that upward movement of the valve housing moves valvemember 27 to closed position.

Means are provided for retracting dog 75 to release it from engagementwith the sleeve after the latter has been'moved to closed positionsotha't the flow valve can be removed fromthe well.

to the"valv'eghousing by a shear pin 83. Disposed be tween carrier 82and the valve housing are spriri'gsISS and guide 1'O'ds88t'l adapted tokeep the springs in proper alignment. It willbe noted that the lower endof shoe 84 overlies-"a recess 89 in the valve housing and has its extentof outward movement limited by a skirt 89a 'on the valve housing.

permitsprings 88 to urge carrier 82 downwardly and hence to move 'shoe84 into recess 89. With such movement, lever-'78 will'be moved toretracted position and this in'turii will retract dog 75. As a result,both the dog and lever ar e'flco'll'a'psed to an out-'of-w'ay positionwhere neither are engage'able withany shoulder on the flow controlvalvehousing by pivot pin 91 which is in the form-'of a shear pin. This doghas an enga'gingportion 92' adapted: to abut, but the dog urged toextended position by spring- 92d, shoulder 93 on the valve receivingmeans and thereby, latch the control valve against upward,moveme'ntoutof the mandrel:assembly.- With this arrangement, it will beapparent that upon movement of the valve-housing into operative positionin the receiv ing ,means asin Fig 4 dog 910 engages should- 1193 to;retain the valve housing against upward movement As stated above, thedog and lever are connected to a carrier 82 and this in turn With thisarrangement, an upward pull on the v'alvefhousing sufiicient to shearpin 83 will through the tubing and, in combination with dogs 65, to alsohold valve member 27 in open position if such is required. However, whenit is desired to remove the valve housing from the mandrel assembly, anupward pull on the wire line will shear pin 91, thereby permitting thedog to drop into space 95 provided within skirt 96 of the valve housing.

Since both dogs 90 and 75 are released by an upward pull on the controlvalve and since valve member 27 is to be closed by upward movement ofthe control valve, shear pin 91 is made smaller than pin 33 so that anupward pull on the control valve will first shear pin 91 to retract dog90 and release control valve 28 for upward movement to move valve member27 to closed position after which an increased pull on the control valvewill shear pin 83 to free the valve of all restraining connections withthe mandrel assembly. Of course, pin 83 is made sufficiently large thatthe force required to shear it is greater than that to move valve member27.

With the above described arrangement, any suitable wire line tool can beemployed to withdraw the control valve from the well, the principalrequirement being that such tool be connectable to the valve by a wireline manipulation. However, since dogs 65 and 90 are to be held inretracted position until the control valve is positioned approximatelywithin a mandrel assembly in order to prevent their catching onprojections or shoulders in the tubing, a wire line tool constructed forthis purpose is employed. Such tool includes means for maintaining dogs65 and 90 in retracted position until the control valve is landed in aposition such that the dogs can be safely extended without catching atan undesired point in the tubing. Thus, retaining sleeve 100 slidinglytelescopes over the end of control valve 28 a sufiicient distance as tocontain dogs 65 and 90 in retracted position. To hold the retainingsleeve in such telescoped position during movement of the control valvethrough the tubing and then to permit its movement to release the dogs,a rod 102 is disposed slidably in the retaining sleeve and connectedthereto by a resilient means, such as spring 103 bearing one end onlatching part 104 of the retainer sleeve and its other end on flangedretainer 105 on rod 102. The rod abuts head 106 of the control valve andcarries a pair of latching dogs 107 pivoted to the rod head 108 forengagement with valve head 106. It is apparent that the retainer sleevewill thus be biased to telescoped position but that upon pulling thesleeve in a direction away from the control valve, it will move relativeto rod 102 to release dogs 65 and 90 since the rod is held in arelatively fixed position by its connection with the flow control valvewhich in turn is latched to the mandrel assembly by dog 75. To retainthe sleeve, upon such releasing movement, in a position free from dogs65 and 90, spring arms 109, carrying latching parts 110, are afiixed torod 102 so that upon sufiicient movement of the retainer sleeve toposition part 104 above parts 110, such parts will engage and preventmovement of the sleeve back into telescoped position.

Valve latching dogs 107 are biased to released position by a spring 111and are held in latched position by a skirted part 112 fitting betweenthe free ends of the dogs. Skirted part 112 is slidably mounted on rod102 and has a lost motion connection with retainer sleeve 100 so thatdogs 107 are not released until detent parts 104 and 110 have beenpositioned for engagement. Such lost motion connection can comprisestuds 113 on skirted part 112 and slidable in slots 114 in the retainingsleeve. The length of these slots is such that their lower ends engagestuds 113 to move skirted part 112 to releasing,

position only after part 104 is positioned to engage part 110. To assurethat latching dogs 107 will always be released, slots 107a are fashionedin sleeve 100' in such' The upper end of sleeve 100 is connected to wireline 16 through a jar arrangement including hammer 114 With sleeve 100in dog releasing position, hammer, 114 t is free to move therein andstrike a blow on the end of rod 102 to jar the flow valve and sleevedownwardly to operative position. In many wells, the well fluid containssand or other foreign material having a tendency to accumulate and toclog well equipment. To guard against clogging ofthe dogs and valvemember 27, there is provided an expansible seal means, including anexpanding spring 116 covered by a seal ring 117, adapted 'to be heldretracted by sleeve 100 until the wire line tool is withdrawn and thento be expanded to form a seal with tube 32 above the uppermost dogs.

While the operation of the illustrated apparatus is believed apparentfrom the foregoing, a brief description will be given to ensure anadequate disclosure.

With mandrel assemblies made up in the tubing string at desired levels,the flow control valve to be landed in one of them is inserted into thelanding tool until dogs 107 latch with valve head 106 as in Fig. 3. Whenso inserted, the control valve has dogs 65 and 90 retracted as shown inFig. 2 and is ready to be lowered through the tubing by wire line 16.The valve and tool can be lowered through any desired number of mandrelassemblies until the mandrel where the control valve is to be landed hasbeen reached or even passed. When proper depth has been reached by thetool and control valve, dog and lever 78, which have been riding on thetubing wall, move outwardly together into recess thereby permitting thedog to engage the lower end of valve member 27 as shown in Fig. 2. Acontinued upward pull on the wire line moves retainer sleeve toreleasing position and releases dogs 65 and 90. Dogs 65 then moveoutward into annular recess 118 and engage the top end of valve member27. By this time, sleeve 100 has moved sufiiciently so that skirted part112 has released dogs 107 and parts 104 have been moved above parts 110.Also, dogs 107 have been moved to released position, either by spring111 or by engagement with the ends of slots 1070. Upon release of dogs107, parts 104 and 110 engage and the tool is in retracted position andfree to be withdrawn from the control valve as shown in Fig. 6.

However, before withdrawing the tool, the flow control valve is jarredor pressed downwardly to move valve member 27 to open position and topermit dog 90 to move out andv engage shoulder 93 as shown in Fig. 4thereby restraining the How control valve against movement out of themandrel assembly. The wire line tool is now removed from the well andcan be again employed to land a flow control valve in any mandrelassembly above the one where the last flow control valve was lauded.

When it is desired to remove a control valve for any reason, a wire linetool adapted to engage the valve is lowered into the well and an upwardpull exerted on the control valve. Upon suflicient pull being exerted,pin 91 is first sheared thereby permitting dog 90 to be retracted intorecess 95. The control valve then moves upwardly and, in so doing, valvemember 27 is moved upwardly to closed position and against shoulder 38.A continued upward pull then shears pin 83 causing dog 75 and lever 78to be retracted. The control valve is then free to be withdrawn from thewell with dog 65 sliding along the tubing during theupward journey outof the well.

ratus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without 13 flow control valve for landingthe flow control valve in and removing it from said receiving meanswhile the conduit is in place in a well, said flow control valve whenlanded in said receiving means controlling flow through a passagewaycommunicating between the interior and exterior of the conduit, theimprovement which comprises the combination therewith of a valve membercarried by said conduit and movable with respect to the conduit to openand close said passageway, means forming a releasable connection betweensaid valve member and one of said flow control valve and landing meansto move the control valve to open position upon landing said controlvalve in said receiving means to closed position upon withdrawal of saidflow control valve from said receiving means, and means for maintainingthe valve member in open position when said control valve is landed andsaid means for landing is disconnected from the landed control valve.

10. An apparatus for controlling flow of fluid into or out of a wellconduit which comprises, in combination, a housing, landing means insaid housing for insertably receiving a flow control valve means, a flowpassageway communicating between the interior and exterior of thehousing, a valve member carried by the housing and movable to open andclose said flow passageway, flow control valve means separate from saidvalve member and movable through the well conduit into and out of saidlanding means and housing, a wire line tool for so moving the flowcontrol valve means and means forming a releasable connection betweensaid valve member and at least one of said tool and flow control valvemeans to move the valve member between open and closed positions.

11. An apparatus for controlling flow of fluid into or out of a wellconduit which comprises, in combination, a housing, landing means insaid housing for insertably receiving a flow control valve means, a flowpassageway communicating between the interior and exterior of thehousing, a valve member carried by the housing and movable to open andclose said flow passageway, flow control valve means separate from saidvalve member and movable through the well conduit into and out of saidlanding means, a wire line tool for so moving the flow control valvemeans, and means carried by one of said tool and said flow control valvemeans to operatively engage said valve member and move it to openposition upon landing said flow control valve means in said landingmeans.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 in combination with means carried by oneof said tool and said flow control valve means to operatively engagesaid valve member and move it to closed position upon moving said flowcontrol valve means out of said landing means.

13. An apparatus for controlling flow of fluid into or out of a wellconduit which comprises, in combination, a mandrel adapted to be made upas a part of said conduit, said mandrel including means for insertablyreceiving a flow control valve therein, a flow passageway providingcommunication between the exterior and interior of said mandrel, asleeve movable along the interior of said mandrel to open and close saidpassageway, a flow control' valve insertable through said conduit intosaid sleeve and receiving means to control flow through said passageway,means carried by the flow control valve to move the sleeve to openposition upon landing the flow control valve in said receiving means,means carried by said flow control valve to move the sleeve to closedposition upon movement of the flow control valve in a direction towithdraw it from the receiving means, and a releasable detent betweenthe sleeve and mandrel resisting movement of the sleeve from openposition.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 whereinsaid receiving means is a tubularmember carried internally of and spaced from the inner walls of saidmandrel to provide a second passageway by-passing said flow controlvalve and sleeve and placing opposite ends of said'mandrel.

nected as part of a well tubing and having a landing portion forreleasably receiving a valve means, means providing a flow passagecommunicating between the interior and exterior of said housing, firstvalve means adapted to be inserted in and removed from said landingportion by a wire line tool to control flow through said passage, secondvalve means carried by the housing and movable to open and close saidpassage, and means for moving said second valve means to and maintainingit in open position upon landing said first valve means in said landingportion and disconnection of said wire line tool from said first valvemeans.

16. An apparatus for controlling flow of fluid into or out of a wellconduit which comprises, in combination, a mandrel adapted to be made upas a part of the well conduit, a tubular receiving means carried by andwithin the mandrel, the mandrel and receiving means providing a passageextending between the exterior of the mandrel and the interior of thereceiving means, a sleeve carried by said mandrel for limited slidingmovement along the interior of the receiving means, said sleeve having alateral opening therein in fluid communication with said passage withthe sleeve in a first position and also having an imperforate portiondisposed across said passage with the sleeve in a second position, aflow control valve insertable through the well conduit into said sleeveand receiving means and having a'fiuid port in communication with saidsleeve opening when landed in said sleeve and receiving means, first andsecond dogs carried by said valve and,

extendible outwardly to engage opposing parts of said sleeve and movethe sleeve to said first and second positions upon insertion of thevalve in said sleeve and movement of thevalve relative to the mandrel,and a by-pass passageway placing opposite ends of the mandrel in fluidcommunication with each other.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 in combination with a wire line toolreleasably engageable with said valve to lower the same into saidmandrel and including a retaining sleeveholding said first dog inretracted position until the valve is inserted in said receiving meansand being slidable relative to the valve to release said first dog forengagement with said sleeve.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 in combination with a third dog carried byand biased outwardly of the valve and facing oppositely from said firstdog, said receiving means having a part engageable with said third dogto retain the valve against upward movement out of said receiving means,said retaining sleeve of said tool likewise holding the third dog inretracted position until the valve is inserted in said receiving means.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein said tool includes latching dogsengageable with said valve, a part holding the latching dogs engagedwith said valve and movable to release said latching dogs from thevalve, and a connection between said part and said retaining sleeve sothat movement of the retaining sleeve to release said first and thirddogs also moves said part to release said latching dogs.

l 20. The apparatus of claim 16 in combination with a lever pivoted tosaid valve for movement of one end of the lever outwardly of the valve,said second dog being and lever being such that inward movement of saidone end of said lever moves said other end of said second dog inwardly,said receiving means having a recessto permit'said one en'd'ofsaid leverto move outwardly of thevalve whereby said one end of said second dogcan move outwardly to engage the first mentioned sleeve.

21. As a subcombination, a mandrel assembly adapted to be made up as apart of a well tubing and comprising, in combination, a mandrel body,means'in's'aid mandrel body for insertably receiving a flow valve andproviding opposing bearing surfaces engageable by a latching mechanismcarried by a flow valve to retain the flow valve in said receivingmeans, a passageway providing fluid communication between the interiorand exterior of the mandrel body, and a valve member carried by themandrel body and movable with respect thereto to open and close saidpassageway.

22. The subcombination of claim 21 in combination with a'secondpassageway placingopposite ends of the mandrel body in fluidcommunication with each other, said second passageway crossing over thefirst mentioned passageway.

23. As a subcombination, a mandrel assembly adapted to be made up as apart of a well tubing and comprising,

in combination, a mandrel body, a tubular valve receiving means carriedwithin said mandrel body and providing a passage between itself and themandrel body placing opposite ends of the mandrel body in fluidcommunication with each other, means providing a passageway between theexterior'of the mandrel body and the interior of said receiving means,and a sleeve slidably mounted within said receiving means forlongitudinal movement between said first and second positions, saidsleeve having an imperforate portion disposed across said passagewaywhen in said second position and also having lateral openings therein influid communication with said passageway with the sleeve in said firstposition.

24. As the subcombination, a wire line tool adapted to land a flowcontrol valve in a mandrel made up as a part of a well conduit whichcomprises, in combination, a retaining sleeve, a rod slidable betweenextended and retracted positions with respect to said sleeve and adaptedto engage one end of the valve to he landed, resilient means between thesleeve and rod urging the rod to retracted position, releasable latchmeans between the retaining sleeve and rod and engageable to retain therod in extended position, latching dogs carried by said rod forreleasable engagement with the valve to be landed, and means forretaining the dogs in latching position with the rod in retractedposition and for releasing said dogs upon movement of the rod toextended position.

25. As a subcombination, a wire line tool adapted to land an apparatusin a well conduit which comprises, in combination, a retaining sleeve, arod movable longitudinally relative to the sleeve, resilient meansbetween the rod and sleeve urging the sleeve in one direction relativeto the rod, latching means between the rod and sleeve and engageableupon predetermined movement of the sleeve relative to the rod. in anopposite direction, latching dogs carried by said rod for engagementwith said tool to be inserted into a well and means retaining said dogsin one position and movable by the sleeve to permit movement of the dogsto another position.

26'. In a well system: a flow tubing positioned in the well; and aplurality of spaced mandrel assemblies mounted in the tubing, eachmandrel assembly comprising a mandrel body made up as a part of saidtubing, receiving means in the mandrel body for receiving a flow controlvalve landed therein by a wire line operation, a flow passagewayproviding fluid communication between the interior and exterior of themandrel assembly, and a valve member separate from said flow controlvalve and carried by the mandrel body'and movable to open and close saidpassageway, said how 'controlv'al've when landed operable of eachmandrel assembly and of such size that a flow control valve can be movedthrough the tubing and said mandrel assemblies to he landed in aselected one of the latter. 7

p 28. In a well system: a well casing; a flow tubing in the casingyand aplurality of mandrel assemblies spaced along the tubing, each mandrelassembly comprisinga mandrel body made up as a part of said tubing,receiving means adapted to have a flow control valve landed therein butalso permitting said control valve to pass through the mandrel assembly,a flow passageway providing communication between the interior andexterior of the mandrel assembly, and a valve member movable to open andclose said passageway; a flow control valve separate 7 drel assembly andto close such valve member upon' removal of the control valve from saidone'mandrel assembly and for limiting movement of the control valverelative to the mandrel body.

' 29. The system" of claim 28 wherein said valve member of said mandrelassemblies comprises a sleeve adapted to permit said control valve tomove therethrough and wherein said releasable means includes a dogengageable with a sleeve in any one of said mandrel assemblies uponupward movement of the flow valve in the tubing and a second'dog'enga'g'eable with such sleeve upon downward movement of the flow valvein said tubing, and a mechanism retaining said second dog in retractedposition until said first dog has engaged the selected sleeve.

30. An apparatus for controlling flow of fluids between the interiorandexterior of a well conduit which comprises, in combination, a mandreladapted to be connecteil as a part of said conduit and having a passagecommunicating between the interior and exterior thereof, flow controlvalve means movable through the conduit into and out of landed positionin said mandrel, Wire line means releasably engaging said valve meansfor so movirig the same, means limiting flow through said passage tobethrough said valve means when the valve means is landed in the mandrel,a passageway providing commune cation between the ends of said mandrelwhen the valve means are landed therein whereby fluid can flow from oneend of the mandrel to the other end, said mandrel including a valvemember carried thereby separate from said valve means and movable toopen andclose said passage, and means for moving and releasablyretaining the valve member in open position when said valve means is'landed'in the mandrel and said wire line means released therefrom andfor moving the valve member to closed position when said valve means ismoved out of the mandrel whereby flow through said passage can beprevented when said valve means is withdrawn from the mandrel by saidwire line means.

'51. In a well apparatus wherein a first valve means is landed in a wellconduit by a wire line tool to control flow through a lateral passagecommunicating between the interior and exterior of the conduit andwherein means are provided releasably connecting the tool to the firstvalve means and releasably retaining the first valve means inlandingpos'ition in the conduit so that said tool can be disconnectedfrom the firstvalve means and withdrawn from the Well leaving the firstvalve means in its landed position, the combination therewith of secondvalve means carried by's'aid conduit movable to open position to-opensaid p'as'sage when said first valve means is landed in the conduitand'incliiding a connection with the conduit reproviding an openingthere'- through in communication with the interior of thetubing 17leasably retaining the second valve means in open position upondisconnecting said tool from the first valve means, said second valvemeans also being movable to closed position across said passage whensaid first valve means is withdrawn from its landed position and fromthe well conduit.

32. A flow control apparatus for use in wells which comprises incombination, a housing assembly adapted to be made up as a part of awell conduit and having a landing portion for insertably receiving flowcontrol valve means, a flow passageway providing communication betweenthe interior and the exterior of said housing assembly, flow controlvalve means adapted to be lowered through said conduit and insertablyreceived in said landing portion by a wire line tool and when soreceived being positioned to control flow through said passageway, meansconstraining flow through said passageway to through said valve means,said housing assembly including a valve member portion movable to openand close said passageway, means for moving said valve member portion between open and closed position responsive to a manipulation of said wireline tool, and means releasably maintaining the valve means in saidlanding portion and said valve member portion in passageway-openposition upon disconnection of the wire line tool from said valve means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,230,107 Garrett Jan. 28, 1941 2,380,022 Burt July 10, 1945 2,431,751Hayward Dec. 2, 1947 2,508,285 Otis May 16, 1950 2,620,741 Garrett Dec.9, 1952 2,667,926 Alexander Feb. 2, 1954

